Sports Briefly

Posted: April 16, 2011 - 4:07pm

ROME

Lance Armstrong and a banned Italian physician have met repeatedly in Europe since severing formal ties in 2004, including as recently as last year before Armstrong’s final Tour de France, a high-ranking Italian law enforcement official told The Associated Press on Friday.

Michele Ferrari was cleared in 2006 of criminal charges accusing him of distributing doping products to athletes, but he remains barred for life by the Italian Cycling Federation.

Italian authorities suspect Ferrari of continuing to work with 20 to 30 top level cyclists despite his ban, including Armstrong, and are actively pursuing that line of investigation, the law enforcement official said. Padua prosecutor Benedetto Roberti ordered raids Thursday across Italy involving cyclists believed to have ties to Ferrari. Italian riders who work with the doctor risk bans of three to six months.

NEW YORK

The NBA has granted the owners of the Sacramento Kings an extension until May 2 to file paperwork requesting a relocation to Anaheim.

Joe and Gavin Maloof were supposed to submit the documents by Monday, but the league’s owners decided to delay that after hearing from Anaheim and Sacramento officials during two days of meetings that ended Friday.

Commissioner David Stern said the league wanted to “do a little bit more fact finding” after Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson told owners Thursday of additional revenue that had been identified, of the city’s commitment to build a new arena, and revealed an interested potential buyer in Pittsburgh Penguins co-owner Ron Burkle.

“So the committee thought that it would be a good idea to do a little bit more fact-finding and determine how this will ultimately play out,” Stern said. “There’s no agenda here; just to make sure that something as important to all parties as the transfer of a team to another city and the attempts of that city to keep that team was fully understood, fully briefed.”

BOSTON

Adrian Gonzalez signed a $154 million, seven-year contract with the Red Sox on Friday then turned his attention to an elusive reward — winning.

Boston hasn’t done that much.

“We have faith in ourselves,” said Gonzalez, whose new deal runs through 2018. “We’re going to turn this around.”

Gonzalez is making $6.3 million in the final year of the contract he had when the Red Sox obtained him from the San Diego Padres for three prospects on Dec. 6. Boston went into Friday night’s opener of a four-game series with the Toronto Blue Jays with a 2-9 record, the worst in baseball.

ATLANTA

U.S. health officials say last fall’s outbreak of a stomach virus that swept through pro basketball teams sickened 21 players on 13 teams.

They were infected with the norovirus, highly contagious and known for spreading on cruise ships. The federal researchers didn’t name the teams. But media reports have said players with a stomach bug at the time included four on the Orlando Magic, including star center Dwight Howard.

The virus can spread through the air on the basketball court. But researchers said it more likely was spread by players socializing.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention initiated the investigation after reading media reports about player illnesses, and the NBA cooperated, said Dr. Rishi Desai, one of the CDC investigators.

It’s not clear how the outbreak started, but the strain of norovirus was an unusual enough that investigators believe players got it from each other rather than from family members or others, he added.